


Treble in Paradise

by orphan_account



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, No Magic AU, Slow Burn, musician au, orchestra AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-17 07:16:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4657470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina Mills is the reluctant new concertmaster of a rather lax community orchestra with a graceless percussionist who likes the timpani too much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here are the pieces referenced in this chapter, if anyone wants to listen (I love both of them myself):
> 
> [Night on Bare Mountain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR2P-5J-2MA)
> 
> [Voices of Spring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqm9jaM5UPA)

When Regina Mills entered the concert hall for her first rehearsal with her new orchestra, she hadn't expected a drum roll.  She frowned as she walked across the stage with her violin, sitting down in the concertmaster's seat next to a woman with short, dark brown hair. She caught the eye of the percussionist in question, a mischevious looking blonde who gave her a wink. Regina stared for a moment, not sure how to react, and then she turned to her new stand partner once the drum roll stopped.

“Is this...customary?” Regina jerked her head in the direction of the percussion section, and her stand partner laughed.

“Oh, no. We're just happy to have a new concertmaster, and Emma back there is a bit of a goofball. That's all.” The woman offered her hand to shake, and Regina shook it gingerly, a little put off by how lax things seemed here. “I'm Mary Margaret. It's nice to meet you.” Before Regina could respond, the conductor arrived, making a motion with his hand to quiet down the orchestra.

“For those of you who are new, my name is Richard Gold, and I've been this orchestra's conductor for ten years now.” The man gave them all a thin-lipped smile, and then he gestured to Regina. “If you would stand up, Ms. Mills.” Regina stood, and Gold looked back out to the orchestra again. “Regina Mills is to be our new concertmaster. Do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Regina looked out at the rest of the orchestra, not sure what she felt. She felt a little silly that she already felt so intimidated – this was a _community_ orchestra. It wasn't like this was the CSO, as her mother so often reminded her. Regina wondered if Cora would have even been satisfied with that, though. Regina wasn't nearly talented enough to be the concertmaster of an orchestra like that, or even to play in one at all. She hadn't even managed to snag a spot in the back of the second violins. 

She had to admit that she was a little underwhelmed by the quality of the people here, though. Mary Margaret seemed reasonable enough, but the percussionist didn't seem like she took anything seriously. She spotted a dark haired man in the trumpet section who was fairly sure had a rum flask resting in his case, and when she looked over at the violas, some blonde man was making heart eyes at Mary Margaret. Regina was brought to her senses again by the sound of a woman clearing her throat, and she looked over to see the principal oboist, a stuffy looking woman in a blue dress.

“Shall we tune, Ms. Mills?” The woman's voice was a little icy. Maybe the oboist was annoyed by the quality of the orchestra members too. Regina nodded after the oboist spoke.

“Of course.” Regina sat down, standing up again when the oboist gave the string section their A, and she repeated the A on her own instrument. She looked down at Mary Margaret, whose eyes were not on her tuning pegs, but on the principal violist. _Great._ She nudged Mary Margaret's foot gently with her own, and the smaller woman jolted, turning her attention back to her instrument. 

Once they were tuned, Gold began the rehearsal, starting with a piece Regina hadn't played before – Night on Bare Mountain, by Modest Mussorgsky. The piece was vaguely familiar, and she faintly remembered that the version she was familiar with had been arranged by Rimsky-Korsakov. This appeared to be the original, unedited version, and Regina wasn't sure whether she liked it. It was so  _coarse._

As they played, Regina snuck a glance over at the percussion section while the first violin section had a brief rest. Emma hit the timpani so enthusiastically that Regina winced, afraid that the blonde might break the instrument.  Regina quickly turned back to her stand, distracted enough that she had almost gotten lost. There was something about Emma that made Regina want to keep staring, but it was most likely her terrible technique.

It was a while before Regina  managed another look , but this time, she saw Emma at the xylophone. The woman was much more refined now, her technique impeccable and only a nudge from Mary Margaret saved Regina from getting lost again. She realized this was reprehensible behavior for a concertmaster, and glued her gaze to the pages in front of her, incredibly embarrassed. To be fair, however, Mary Margaret was definitely looking at her own blonde distraction every so often. 

The more they practiced the piece, the more Regina disliked it. It was incredibly dissonant, and in her opinion, there were a lot of thoroughly unnecessary, ridiculously fast passages in the first violin part. She didn't understand what the point was to have the violins doodling around pointlessly when the brass section was clearly overpowering them. She sincerely hoped they wouldn't have to play Richard Wagner – his music was an even worse example of that sort of thing.

By the time they reached the break, Regina was in a foul mood, nursing a faint headache from the cacophany of the last hour. She got up from her seat to go find some water, hoping no one would bother her.  _Mother's right. This orchestra is full of riff-raff, and they make terrible repertoire decisions to boot._ Regina leaned over the water fountain, taking a much needed drink. 

“So was I doing something funny back there, or do you just like watching the percussion section?”

Regina jolted upward, splashing water down her front and swearing under her breath. Emma had managed to sidle up beside her while she hadn't been paying attention.

“Don't sneak up on people, it's rude.” Regina shot a nasty look at the blonde, who just shrugged.

“I wasn't sneaking up, I was waiting for a drink.” Emma raised her eyebrows when she saw the splashes of water on Regina's shirt, and Regina stepped to the side, letting Emma get her own drink.

“Well, I wasn't watching you, either. Your terrible technique caught my attention, but that was all.” Regina sniffed and walked away, making sure to accidentally bump into Emma on her way out. If she had to suffer the embarrassment of spilling on herself, so did Emma.

_* * *_

Emma Swan wondered if Gold was going to continue to hire concertmasters who were absolute assparades forever. Regina Mills certainly seemed to be following that pattern. Emma made her way back to the percussion section, ignoring the wet spots on her shirt. Emma had dealt with much worse messes, and she wasn't someone sniffy like Regina who was bothered by a bit of water. She saw Killian raise his eyebrows and mouth “wet T-shirt contest?”, and she shot him a glare.

The second half of rehearsal was milder, Gold having selected some more pleasant sounding pieces than Night on Bare Mountain. Emma liked the Mussorgsky piece herself and found it very enjoyable, but she was sure it irritated the more sniffy members of the orchestra. Now they practiced something much more harmonious, Voices of Spring by Johann Strauss.

As Emma played the timpani, she found it easy to watch Regina, since the beats she had to play were fairly regular and easy. Regina seemed to be enjoying this piece a lot more than the earlier one, and Emma found herself a little distracted by how gracefully she played the violin. Regina was an asshole and probably a snob too, but Emma couldn't deny she was talented. She'd have to ask her friend Mary Margaret for details about what Regina was like, since Mary Margaret had the misfortune of being her stand partner.

There was something about a ¾ time signature that Emma found calming, and as she watched Regina, she could tell it had the same effect on the other woman. Regina had been very stiff before, but this waltz seemed to make her open up a little. She wasn't exactly smiling, but she moved more freely with her violin now, and there wasn't a grimace on her face anymore. Emma found herself a little disappointed when they moved on to another piece, having to concentrate more on her instruments and look away from Regina.

Before she knew it, rehearsal was over, and she suddenly realized how tired she was. Henry would need to go to bed soon, and she knew she needed to leave fairly quickly to pick him up from his babysitter on time. She decided she had one more thing to do first, and as she made her way out of the orchestra hall, she tried her best to catch up with Regina before she left.

“Hey, Regina?”

“Miss Mills, if you please.” Regina stopped on the sidewalk outside of the parking lot, giving Emma a wary look.

“Miss Mills, then. I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I honestly didn't mean to startle you.” Christ, the woman was gorgeous up close. Scary, but definitely gorgeous. Regina's expression was impassive, and she stared blankly at Emma for a moment.

“Apology accepted,” Regina said, and she began to walk away. Emma followed her, knowing she was probably digging herself into a deeper hole, but unable to help herself.

“But I still want to know why you were staring. My timpani technique can't be _that_ bad,” Emma said, keeping pace with Regina.

“Your timpani technique is very crude, and you would do well to look a little more graceful. This isn't a rock band, Miss...?” Regina trailed off, apparently not having been told Emma's last name.

“Swan. But you can call me Emma. This is a community orchestra, you don't need to be so formal.” Emma ignored her comment about the orchestra not being a rock band – Regina would certainly be in for an unpleasant surprise when the time came for their pops concert.

“Being formal is the polite thing to do. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to leave. Goodnight, Miss Swan.” Regina quickened her pace, heading toward her car, and Emma backed off, knowing she had probably thoroughly annoyed the woman.

“Goodnight, Miss Mills!” Emma waved, but Regina didn't respond. If someone else had been acting this way toward her, Emma would have been more annoyed, but something about Regina piqued Emma's interest, and she wanted to know more. Or maybe she just liked messing with stick-in-the-mud people. She couldn't quite decide. Regardless, Emma hoped Regina would return. Even if the concertmaster made her splash water all over herself again.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Have you looked at other orchestras yet, dear? This community orchestra is a bandage fix, and a girl like you is too good for that terrible office job - “

Regina hit the delete button on her phone, the loud beep harsh in her ears. Her mother was bent on continuing to make it clear how much she disapproved of Regina's life choices, and she seemed to be the only person who called Regina these days. But unless Cora could literally buy Regina's way into the CSO, which Regina was sure she would if she could, Regina wasn't leaving the community orchestra any time soon.

She tried to put Cora out of her mind as she strode through the door of her workplace that morning, not wanting to appear unprofessional. What she did was boring office work, but it was still work, and she knew she needed to leave her personal problems at home. She tucked her phone in her purse, saying a mental _fuck you_ to her mother, and settled down at her desk. Regina had recently gotten a job as the receptionist at the local park district, and while it wasn't something she loved, it paid enough for her to get by.

The morning went by fairly quickly, and before she knew it, it was midway through the afternoon. She was grateful for days like this that went by quickly, and she looked forward to spending a quiet evening at home and maybe practicing her violin a little. She didn't have time to ruminate on that for long, however, as something caught her eye.

There was a little brown-haired boy wandering the halls, and Regina swore she'd seen him pass this way before. He disappeared around the corner, and Regina frowned, looking up from her paperwork to keep a watch out. Like clockwork, the little boy came back the other direction, looking a little more distressed than when he had last passed by. Regina stood up, figuring the kid was lost and could probably use some help.

“Excuse me, do you need some help?” Regina approached the boy, hoping she didn't sound too ultra-serious and cold. Regina had never really been good with children, but she tried the best she could.

"Can you help me find my mom?” The little boy appeared to be putting on a brave face, but there was a little quiver in his voice. Regina's expression softened and she nodded, wondering how this kid had wandered off unattended. Children usually came to the park district to use the children's gym, and it was almost always supervised. Or so she was told – she hadn't actually been there to check.

“Of course. Does your mom stay here while you play in the gym, or does she drop you off?” Maybe the boy was upset that his mother had dropped him off here for the afternoon. It wouldn't be the first time she'd seen a child get upset about that, but she couldn't do much to help him in that case. The boy shook his head.

“No, she works here. In the grownup gym. She teaches people to punch stuff. But I can't find the grownup gym,” the boy said. He was apparently talking about the area of the park district where there were personal trainers, and Regina knew how to get there, thankfully.

“All right, I can take you there. Come along.” Regina beckoned for the boy to follow her, and he trotted along beside her as they walked. “Why do you need to see your mother? All of the other children have to stay in the children's gym for the afternoon.” A lot of morning kindergarteners came to the children's gym after lunch, and from the looks of the boy, he seemed like he was probably one of them. The children usually stayed until their parents could come home from work and pick them up.

“The kid gym isn't fun.” The little boy shrugged, frowning a bit. “And I miss Mommy.” Regina knew there was no point in telling him that he shouldn't go sneaking off while under supervision – that would be a discussion for his mother when Regina found her.

“There she is!” The boy's face lit up and he pointed through a glass window. Regina looked through the window to see what looked like a kickboxing lesson, taught by a delightfully muscular blonde woman. Regina's breath caught as she watched the woman move, a little spellbound. The boy nudged her and brought her back to reality, and she flushed a little, embarrassed.

“I see her now. Let's go inside.” Regina led the boy toward the door, knocking gently. When the woman turned to answer it, Regina saw her face this time, and felt a mix of lust and dread. _Oh, no._

“Hey, little guy!” Emma ruffled the boy's hair, and then looked up to see who had accompanied him. “ _Regina_?” Regina floundered, trying to get a hold of herself.

“I was unaware you worked here. But your son was looking for you, and he got lost. So I brought him here,” Regina's voice said stiffly, trying not to think about how incredibly good Emma looked post-workout. What Emma had been wearing at orchestra rehearsal hadn't allowed Regina to see her muscles like this, and Regina wondered faintly how her arms looked when she hit the timpani so aggressively.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” Emma gave her a warm smile, and Regina stared blankly, not having any idea how to react. Thankfully, Emma seemed to focus her attention on the boy for now, leaning down to speak to him.

“Henry, you need to stay in the children's gym until I come and get you, okay?”

“But I miss you.” The sadness in the boy's voice was evident, and Regina thought she saw a twinge of guilt cross Emma's face.

“I know, buddy. It's only a few hours, though, and then we'll go home and have dinner. Okay?”

“Okay...” Henry looked down sadly, and Emma ruffled his hair again.

“It won't be long, I promise. I have to go back to my lesson now, so you need to go with the nice Miss Regina - “

“ - Miss Mills,” Regina interjected, and Emma stifled an eye roll.

“ - Miss Mills, and she'll take you back to the children's gym.” Emma stood back up, and Henry nodded morosely.

“Thank you, really. I don't know how he sneaked past the instructors, but I'm glad you found him.” The scorn that had briefly crossed Emma's face at Regina's interruption had disappeared now, replaced by frazzled but genuine gratitude. “I'll see you at...rehearsal, I suppose?”

“Yes.” Regina nodded, her voice still stiff. “Goodbye, Miss Swan. Come along, Henry.”

* * *

It killed Emma that Henry wasn't adjusting well to staying in the children's gym after kindergarten, but it was the only option she had. She didn't have anyone else who could watch him while she worked full time, and since she was an employee, Henry got free access to the gym. She wanted to spend more time with him, but someone had to make money to put food on the table, and it wasn't going to be a five year old.

Emma returned to her lesson, continuing to instruct her client, but she felt more than a little distracted. Henry was on her mind, but he wasn't the only thing. Regina was the last person she expected to see here, and it had thrown her off her game. Regina looked incredibly well put together as always, and she had just walked in on a sweaty, grungy looking Emma. She knew that was silly and shouldn't matter to her, since Regina hardly seemed to think any good about her, but it still bothered her a little.

After what seemed like an eternity, Emma's day was finally over, and she headed over to the children's gym to pick Henry up. Thankfully, Henry seemed to be in a better mood now, and as they walked toward the exit, Henry enthused about a cool parachute game the children had played. Emma hoped that he would get used to these circumstances eventually, and that he would eventually enjoy every day he spent here.

As they made their way through the park district building, Emma saw Regina one of the front desks. The brunette also appeared to be packing up, and Emma found herself a little mesmerized as she watched her. She supposed having a calm office job was conducive to maintaining perfect hair, but it amazed Emma that someone's hair could stay _that_ perfect all day.

“Mom, why are you staring at Miss Regina?” Henry said, in an unfortunately loud child voice, as he tugged on Emma's shirt. Emma reddened as Regina looked up, the sound having caught her attention.

“I – I wasn't - “ Emma stammered, trying to keep her cool and failing miserably. “We were just on our way out, that's all. I just came by to thank you again. Henry would have been wandering around for ages, otherwise, and I would never have known.” Regina gave her another one of those blank stares, as if she wasn't sure how to react. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, a faint smile formed on her face, and Emma felt her stomach flip. _Fuck._

“You're welcome. Henry is a sweet boy,” Regina said, her voice a little more relaxed than earlier that afternoon. Emma gave her a hesitant faint smile in return, although she had a feeling it looked more like a grimace. Henry gave them both a wide, genuine smile, however.

“I like Miss Regina. Can I see Miss Regina tomorrow?” Henry asked, and that got a faint laugh from Regina. Thankful that the woman wasn't offended or embarrassed, Emma nodded.

“Maybe we can stop by when you come home from kindergarten. But you have to promise me not to leave the children's gym again, all right?”

“I _promise._ ” Henry gave a solemn nod, and Emma ruffled his hair again. Regina's expression was softer than she'd ever seen it before, and Emma wasn't sure what to make of it. Regina certainly was an uptight jerk with a stick up her ass at orchestra rehearsal, but at least she seemed to like children a lot. So she couldn't be _all_ bad.

“We'll see you tomorrow, then, Miss Mills.” Emma gave a little wave, and then guided Henry out of the park district. Today, she had learned how beautiful that woman was when she smiled. And despite everything, she wanted to make it happen again.

 


End file.
